The experience left a bitter taste in my mouth obviously. The point is to treat people the way you want to be treated even when you have to let them go.

Remember, you are messing with someone’s life and livelihood when you have to take action. So, be generous, don’t be petty.

Rule Number Four: Improvement plans rarely work, but sometimes you have to do them

Some companies love putting problem employees on so-called “improvement plans.” The idea is you tell a problem employee, “Here are the five things you need to fix, or we’re going to have to terminate you.”

I’ve had to put several employees on improvement plans, and I’ve never seen an employee survive an improvement plan.

Why do companies, even in an at-will employment state like California, put employees on improvement plans when they never work? The answer is the employer wants to avoid being sued.

What should you do if you are on improvement plan? I hate to be blunt, but you should start preparing yourself and your family that you’re going to be let go.

I would do everything that’s being asked of me if I was on an improvement plan. That may buy you some time, but you are likely to be let go.

Rule Number Five: You (the manager) will be the last one to figure it out (that you have to let the person go)

Every time I have had to let someone go, I have someone tell me, “What took you so long? We (the other employees) knew he wasn’t going to cut it.”

There is a delicate balance you have to strike when you manage a team or a company. Fire someone to quickly and people are going to think you overreacted. They are going to worry about their own jobs.

Fire someone to slowly and people are going to think you are accepting mediocrity. They will lose motivation and performance will suffer.

There are legendary stories here in the Silicon Valley about Steve Jobs firing people on the spot (or in elevators), essentially violating all of rules of how to fire someone.

However, according to the book, Becoming Steve Jobs, by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, Jobs found it more difficult to fire people after he had children:

"When I look at people when this happens (being fired), I also think of them as being 5 years old, kind of like I look at my kids. And I think that that could be me coming home to tell my wife and kids that I just got laid off. Or that it could be one of my kids in 20 years. I never took it so personally before."

I hope this story about Steve Jobs is true. And, I hope you take it personally too when you have to let someone go.